The rules would eliminate the input of federal wildlife scientists in some endangered species cases

, [by allowing] the federal agency in charge of building, authorizing or funding a project to determine for itself whether a project would be likely to harm endangered wildlife and plants.

At today's White House press conference, a reporter asked if the Associated Press had accurately described the proposed regulatory change. Perino responded first by saying she didn't have the documentation with her, but suggested that the rule change would have little effect because the ESA doesn't help protect "any species, including ours" anyway:

PERINO: I don't have [the documentation] with me. I know conceptually what we support.

And I know that the Endangered Species Act is a tangled web that doesn't actually help support any species, including our own.

for certain fisheries-management decisions." Instead, the government would "give review authority to regional councils dominated by commercial and recreational fishing interests."

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Allowing more emissions from power plants.

Over the objections of half of its 10 regional administrators, the Environmental Protection Agency is "finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wilderness areas" by

As Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, told the Wall Street Journal, "This administration will stop at nothing to jam through as many reckless proposals as they can before the clock runs out."